Mike,
I was drinking the coffee as I typed...
I'm not worried about the pods being pulverized by the pump....yeah, I'm sure it happens to some degree, but plenty of them get through unscathed to start up a breeding population quickly enough. Its not a big enough concern for me.
I was suggesting the overhead Fuge for a couple of reaons.
1....You're going to be running out of counter space quickly enough. You'll see....
2...placing it above the tank and T'ing off your return/using a manifold to feed it and allowing gravity to drain it means you're using less electricity for your system and its one less thing to go wrong.
As far being able to raise/lower the lights for work etc....You I dont know how much room you have over your tank, but you really dont need more than about 2-2.5 feet of space to be able to do anything in your tank....seriously. And I'm being waaay generous.
A 20 long will give you more than enough room for a fuge/algae farm (which is what most fuges really are) and wont take up too much room.
You're rendering looks pretty good too. It just means that the plumbing to/from it is a little more complicated.
I prefer simple whenever possible. I work rotating shifts and have 3 little girls, (Twin 3 year olds and 6 month old) so simpler often means less time working on it. And time is something I just dont have enough of right now.
Speaking of time, I dont use my LM3 for water changes, that's too time consuming. I just use an old submersible pump a (Quiet One I think) and use it to add water to my tank. Another thing to consider is that by doing a slow water change with the system running, (like say with a LM3) means you're not exactly doing a "real" water change. Lets say you have a 50 gallon barrel of new ASW. You set up your LM3 to slowly drain 50 gallons from your system while its simultaneously adding the new ASW. At the end of it, you've removed 50 gallons from your system, but you were adding it at the same time, diluting the old dirty waste water currently in your system with the new ASW you were mixing in....so did you really make a 50 gallon water change? Not really...... Its not as effective as shutting down yoru sump, sucking out 50 gallons of old water and filling it with new ASW...make sense?
I have a 120 display, a 40 breeder frag tank, and a 58 display all plumbed into a common sump which is a converted 75 gallon holding about 50 gallons with enough room for a 20 gallon "oops".
Water changes for me consist of using a hand siphon to remove about 5-6 gallons of water from the 120 display and the frag tank since they are both bare bottom. Then I shut off the return pumps and shut the plumbing with the ball valves. Then I turn off everything off in the sump, and use a Python (basically an green colored water bed filling device marketed to aquarium hobbyists for more money) and use it to suck up water from the first 2 compartments of my sump.
All told, this consists of about 45-46 gallons of water being changed which is a 20% water change for my system.
I leave the Tunze's/powerheads inside the tanks running to provide circulation while I'm doing the water change.
Then I use the Quiet One pump to refill the sump. When the sump is filled enough to allow the return pumps, skimmer, and heater to be turned back on I do so and fill up the tank. Overall, the whole length of time for a water change takes me about 30 minutes max...
I make sure to get the new salt water parameters to match the system's so there is no shocking the system.
As far as a float switch for your skimmer goes....yeah, you can do it, but again, its another thing to go wrong. I dont like float valves. Too easily knocked out of whack or locked up by snails etc..... I find it easier to just assume my skimmer is going to go nuts and just allow for it. In my previous example, the outflow of the skimmer started splashing heavily for some reason and was rasied above the rim of the sump. I no longer use that skimmer or sump and have the current skimmer's outflow well below the rim of the sump. There is no way it can splash water out of the sump.
If it goes crazy and overflows the cup, (pretty hard cause its a big cup), it will overflow into the sump. Okay, so what. I clean the skimmer every time I do a water change, (usually weekly), so there isnt anything really nasty in there to begin with. When my Long spined urchin spawns, (male, broadcast spawner) that throws the skimmer into fits....it will rapidly bubble over the cup and into the tank. This seems to happen about once a month and I just shut off the skimmer when it does. Wait a day, and turn the skimmer back on. No problem. Paying attention to your tank will give you better information with regards to what is likely to happen. The urchin climbs up to the surface of the tank and broadcast spawns once a month, usually after I do a water change....I just pay attention when I'm doing the water change and go from there....
Regarding back up equipment...yes, its expensive and a PITA........but what will you have invested in all of your livestock when its all said and done? Can you afford to replace everything every couple of years because of a pump failure? What about when you take your pumps off line for maintenance?
One last thing to think about....Quarentine. I dont see any plans for a QT set up in your renderings.
QT for incoming fish is HUGE! I would SERIOUSLY suggest heading over to Lee Birch's Marine Fish Forum and reading his articles on QT and feeding. Lee knows his stuff and because of his information and my past errors, I now QT any and all fish going into my system. My fish have been disease free for several years now.
It seems like everytime someone with a massively well designed and thought out system doesnt take the time to QT their fish and winds up wiping out their entire system with an out break of either Velvet or Ich, or flukes or something....
A simple 30 long with pvc fittings in it could quite easily be a QT set up for your system. When not using it, just drain it, clean it, and put it in storage.
Seriously man....find a place for a QT set up for your system...you'll regret it otherwise.
Nick
